Managing Workplace Harassment: Building a Respectful Workplace

Harassment does not always look the same. It can involve words, actions, unwanted behavior, inappropriate messages, or conduct that creates an unsafe or harmful workplace environment. Recognizing these behaviors and knowing how to respond is important for everyone in an organization. Managing Workplace Harassment helps participants understand different forms of workplace harassment and the role employees and employers play in addressing and preventing it. The course explores discrimination related to gender, race, religion, and disability, along with physical behaviors such as hitting, threats, property destruction, and workplace homicide. Participants will also examine verbal harassment, including yelling, insulting, ordering, and blaming, as well as sexual harassment involving touching, gestures, inappropriate photos, and inappropriate jokes. Psychological harassment topics include isolating, discrediting, disparaging, and contesting. The course also addresses cyberbullying, including humiliating mass emails, harassing emails, spreading lies electronically, and monitoring policies. Participants will explore employer responsibilities involving laws, recordkeeping, investigating complaints, and remediation. Finally, the course focuses on prevention and reporting through anti-harassment policies, employee training, clear consequences, speaking up, and step-by-step complaint processes.